economies. thanks for joining the conversation this week on "your money. my handle is @christineromans on twitter. hello, everyone. i'm fredricka whitfield. here's a look at the top stories this hours in the news line. the midwest is bracing for nasty storms over the next few hours. at least one tornado touched down in kansas yesterday. the severe weather system is on the move with hail, flooding and possibly more twisters all in the forecast next. real cars involved in that terrible train collision in connecticut are being cleared arai way. in a few minutes i'll talk to a doctor who was on that train when it crashed. immediately going to work treating the injured. in long island, new york, the family of a hofstra university student killed by

police is preparing her funeral this week. i'll have details on that tragedy in just a moment. we begin with that severe weather. tornado watches are right now in effect across the midwest. dark storm clouds have been moving across much of the country's midsection and south all weekend. the storm chasers got incredible video yesterday of a twister touching down in central kansas. take a look at that. in all of that, one home was damaged but no one hurt. and then on to tulsa, oklahoma. strong winds ripped apart tents set up for the city's may fest overnight. but despite the damage the festival is still continuing today as planned. an heavy rain in georgia turned many streets into rivers seemingly today. people in a town just outside of atlanta told our affiliate wsb it is the worst flooding that they've ever seen. jennifer delgado with us now in the severe weather center and this system is really just starting to pick up speed. >> absolutely, fredricka. we told you two hours ago we would see things getting more

active. now we have four tornado watches at. at 2:00 we didn't have this. you will already see the line starting to develop through parts of kansas. notice the tornado watches in place for minnesota, as well as into iowa, all the way down towards oklahoma, even that northern part of texas. with these we will see the possibility of tornadoes, damaging winds as well as hail. the area we are really concerned about is in red. we'll make this a little bit bigger for you. i'm having a little bit of technical difficulties but the area in kansas, as well as into kansas city, that's where we're going to see potentially some of the stronger storms producing these super cells that could produce these tornadoes. as we play this for you and talk about the severe weather threat, we're really going to say right around 8:00 these storms really firing up and even into the morning hours. then we're going to get a quiet break in the morning hours, then the storm redevelops tomorrow so we're talking a multi-day severe weather threat as we go into

monday and we're also seeing this into tuesday as well. but notice on monday we'll include cities like chicago, as well as into milwaukee. it is not just actually the tornado that we are talking about. we are also talking about some very heavy rainfall that's been coming down across parts of the east, including georgia. in some areas we've seen five inches of rainfall just from last night. we saw some of that video of the flooding and there it is again. fredricka, i said we will continue to see more of these images of flooding coming out of northern georgia and as we take you back over on the radar, the storm still lighting up parts of tennessee as well as into georgia, still bringing with it in some of these locations rainfall rates right around 2, 2 1/2 inches per hour. that's why we have all these flood warnings and watches in place. a lot of these are going to last through this evening. fredricka, a lot to follow and a lot to talk about. i'm going to fix that technical difficulty. >> keep us posted because i know this is just the beginning of what will be a very business late afternoon and early evening. thanks so much, jennifer. on to connecticut now.

still trying to figure out what caused a railroad collision there. railroad authorities are removing the broken rail cars from the site after terrible crash right now threatening to make tomorrow's rush hour a real mess. a commuter train derailed and struck another train in bridgeport, connecticut two days ago. nine people injured in the accident remain hospitalized. one in critical condition. thank goodness for the quick action of my next guest, dr. daniel solomon is chief resident of medical trauma surgery at yale new haven hospital. good to see you, doctor, joining us from bridgeport. >> thank you. >> so you, like everybody else, using the commuter train to avoid the nasty commute along i-95. give me an idea of what happened. were you at the time of this collision thrown from your seat or were you at first able to just simply walk away? >> well, i was in the front car

and i didn't feel anything at all. the train bucked a little bit and came to a stop and people were a little bit nervous. i knew there was a severe enough bump that i wasn't going to get to work on time but when the smoke started filling the car and people started filling in from the back cars, i realized it was probably a little bit more serious. they broke the emergency exits and we all filed out. people were just milling around on their cell phones i guess trying to get home and get to work. my plan was to just check in, tell the conductor that i was a doctor, if anybody had any cuts or scrapes. but when i reached the back of the car i realized that the damage was a lot more severe and people were falling and filing out of the middle car pretty badly bloodied. that's when i realized it was a little bit more serious than what i expected. i told one of the other bystanders that i was a trauma surgeon and if there was anything i could do to help. he directed me into the third car where he said there was a woman on the tracks. apparently where the two cars had come together and the wall was shorn off, a woman who had been sitting there was pulled

into the space between the two trains and was lying on the tracks. miraculously she was awake and conscience. i think she was a little bit in shock. she was confused and lethargic but i started talking to her. she even started to give me her hand. another good samaritan and i pulled her into the train and passed her off to the triage area that had sort of just erupted and that's when i started going over all of the other injured. she was lethargic and confused and she had a weak pulse and i was concerned that she was the most significantly injured and another woman who had been pulled out looked like she had a head injury and could i feel some broken ribs on the right side of her chest but she had a strong pulse and she was wake and following my commands. so when the fire department arrived i triaged those two out first. and -- >> so dr. solomon, we're looking at some still images, we've kind of circled you in that still image. there are a few other people in that car. it appears just from that moment

captured on camera that people remained fairly calm as you were able to identify those who were in greatest need. did it seem like that? >> yes. i think that the people in my car were calm because we didn't think that there was a serious accident that had taken place but the people in the rear cars, i think everybody just good samaritan instinct took effect and everybody was doing what they could, helping the injured, holding pressure on pretty severe lacerations. i started to ask some other bystanders to hold people's serve cal spinz in line in case people had serve cal spine injury and everybody did exactly what they were told and remained perfectly calm. was pretty impressed with the connecticut commuters. >> wow. sounds like you had a lot of cooperation there. among the kinds of injuries that you had to treat there, you said lacerations, then you asked

people to kind of apply pressure to cervical spines. was it an issue of a lot of broken bones or for the most part people who were very shaken? >> well, as i mentioned, i think the most significant injuries were fractured ribs and a pretty badly broken pelvis. then there was another young lady that had a pretty severe bilateral fracture dislocation of her ankle. it was fairy horrific to look at but she had strong pulses in her feet and was able to move her toes so i think that after an open reduction she's going to be okay. >> well, thank goodness you were there. i know a lot of folks who were falling victim to this train collision are very grateful you were there. thanks so much, dr. daniel solomon, appreciate your time. >> thank you, miss whitfield. let's go to long island now where investigators are trying to piece together a terrible picture that unfolded there involving a hofstra university student and a police officer. police say an intruder broke in

to andrea robello's home and ordered one of her roommates to leave and get money from an atm so she called police and when police arrived at the home they found the intruder holding a gun to her head. an officer shot suspect multiple times but one of the bullets also hit robello in the head. her friends are now remembering her. >> she was like really popular and like everybody loved her. she was sweet. >> what an all-around nice young woman she was and how she was looking forward to getting an education and going off to college and making something wonderful out of her life. >> sad story. andrea's funeral is planned for wednesday. zephyr hills, florida. it is now -- you might want to call it one of the luckiest places in the sunshine state. someone in that small town bought the only winning powerball ticket. the numbers right here -- 22, 10, 13, 14, 52 and, the powerball number of 11. all paying out a record amount.

nearly $600 million. john zarrella is outside the publix which sold that winning ticket. john, are we any closer to finding out who got that ticket? >> well, nobody's come forward, fredricka. you are right, that's the publix behind me there where the winning ticket was sold. i guess it is safe to say that that's the most famous supermarket anywhere in the world right now. it is funny, people have been coming up to us all afternoon asking, hey, has anybody come forward, has anybody claimed the ticket. but -- so it is settling in here that the winner is from zephyrhills. but when we talked to people earlier it the day, some people didn't even know that the winning ticket had been purchased here at the store. other people were already getting phone calls from relatives, some of them long lost. >> i buy mine here all the time. yesterday i was in naples, i bought it in naples. that's just my luck. i just hope whoever won really

needs the money and i hope they do right by it. >> we had people telling us they were getting calls from rel tifls all over the country asking, hey, did you win it? the winner, fredricka, if he, she or they tee side to take it as a lump sum, it will be $377 million. i'm thinking that's not enough. i mean why even claim the ticket? >> that is unbelievable. that's what you call some crazy money. all right, john zarrella, thanks so much from zephyrhills, florida. >> sure. >> better luck next time. president obama is trying to move past the scandals in washington. let's be real -- will it happen? will his critics let up? candy crowley joins me next. hmm, it says here that cheerios helps lower cholesterol

as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios ♪ the one and only, cheerios

i need you. i feel so alone. but you're not alone. i knew you'd come. like i could stay away. you know i can't do this without you. you'll never have to. you're always there for me. shh! i'll get you a rental car. i could also use an umbrella. fall in love with progressive's claims service. tony used priceline to book this 4 star hfree breakfast why. with express deals, you can save big and find a hotel with free breakfast without bidding. don't you just love those little cereal boxes? priceline savings without the bidding. there's a reason no one says "easy like monday morning." sundays are the warrior's day to unplug and recharge. what if this feeling could last all week? with centurylink as your trusted partner, it can.

our visionary cloud infrastructure and global broadband network free you to focus on what matters. with custom communications solutions and dedicated support, your business can shine all week long. new poll numbers show president obama is weathering the storm of scandals swirling around his white house. in april his approval rating was at 51%, up two points. president is trying to change the focus from the irs, benghazi and associated press scandals and trying to shift the focus back to the economy. listen to what the president had to say this morning during his commencement address at morehouse college in atlanta. >> my job as president is to

advocate for policies that jaen rate more opportunity for everybody, policies that strengthen the middle class and give more people the chance to climb their way into the middle class. policies that create more good jobs and reduce poverty and educate more children and give more families the security of health care and protect more of our children from the who are roars of gun violence. that's my job. >> so can the president regain control of the agenda talking about jobs and health care? candy crowley is anchor of "the state of the union." >> when it came out on the news a week ago friday i think -- here's why. because here's the cardinal rule when you deal with situations like these, for all white houses -- you do not interfere in an independent investigation and do you not do anything to give off the appearance of interference in an independent investigation. >> so the white house is acknowledging the issues but at the same time making a concerted effort to move forward.

is that what we're going to see likely from the white house this week? >> yes. because it is the one-two punch of trying to get control of the situation. you first acknowledge it, which the president did a couple of times this week saying this is terrible, this is awful, we're going to get to the bottom of it, change it, make sure it never happens again. and then you want to redirect. he went to baltimore, atlanta today talking about other things. the economy which obviously is something that people still are quite concerned about. so those are the two things that i think they need to do and so much of how they react is going to depend on what comes up because we got a couple hearings this week. >> and then new polling is really encouraging for the white house, showing that americans like the way the white house, the president, has been handling irs, the ap scandal or even questions about benghazi. what's this say to his critics, primarily republicans? are they overplaying their hand potentially? >> the overall approval rating

for the president is about the same place it was in april. 51% in april. 53% now in this new poll taken after all of these things came out this week. but there was not bad news for republicans because one of the questions was do you think republicans are overplaying their hand. most americans said no, they thought they were sort of about right. but remember, we are very early on in the irs. we're not really sure what's going to come out. and so it is important what this poll says to the president is, he's handled it pretty el up to now. there is a reservoir of good will for this president that he can bank on, unless he spends it all. so it depends on how he handles it right now. americans look at it and figure that he's handling it about right. but you've got to like restart the motor every time something else comes out and there are just a couple of things we still don't know about a couple of these problems he's got. >> still lots of questions.

still a few more hearings and we know many more on the horizon as it relates to all these. candy crowley, thanks so much, host of "state of the union." all right, the jersey shore is back open for business. the boardwalk in asbury park, new jersey after getting slammed by super storm sandy in october. we'll show you the before and after. [ female announcer ] the only patch for the treatment of mild to moderate alzheimer's disease is exelon patch. now with more treatment options,

exelon patch may improve overall function and cognition. your loved one can get a free 30-day trial. and you can have access to nurses. it does not change how the disease progresses. hospitalization, and rarely death, have been reported from wearing more than one patch at a time. the most common side effects are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fall, loss of appetite or weight, application site redness, and urinary tract infection. the likelihood and severity of these side effects may increase as the dose increases or if patients weigh less than 110 pounds. people at risk for stomach ulcers who take certain other medicines should talk to their doctor as serious stomach problems such as bleeding may worsen. patients may experience slow heart rate. free trial offer for them. nurses to talk to for you. visit exelonpatchoffer.com. ♪

visit exelonpatchoffer.com. for a store near you go to benjaminmoore.com/bayarea. we've been warning you about some potentially dangerous weather targeting the midsection of this country. jennifer delgado here in the weather center. talking about a report of at least one tornado touching down? >> we do have a report after tornado on the ground near viola. that's actually kansas, not very far from wichita. we're starting to see these storms firing up more along this

line. tornado warning is in effect until 3:30 local time. that's roughly about another nine minutes but again we did hear reports of weather spotters seeing this wall cloud go through. we now know there is a report of a tornado on the ground. if you're in that area of wichita, make sure you're going into the interior part of your home, try to get to the basement. make sure you're in a safe location and of course listening to your alarms in the local area. for the area that's near this, it is not very far away from wichita but again, the areas that you are seeing in red, these are the tornado watches that we do have in place until about 11:00 tonight. it goes all the way up to minnesota, all the way down towards parts of texas. fredricka, we'll be watching this but the severe weather threat is in place for today but areas like oklahoma and kansas, this is where we're going to see the greatest potential for some of these storms producing the tornadoes, damaging winds as well as large ale and that severe weather threat of course continues tomorrow and potentially into tuesday. >> keep us posted, jennifer.

thanks so much. as you recall, it was bad weather, in fact a hurricane that left a serious mark on the northeast last fall. boardwalk of new jersey, guess what? today it is open again. parts of it. hurricane sandy barreled through the area seven months ago leaving the area looking like this. but the community would not be beaten. that was october. today the shore is back in business building back better and some say prettier than before. jacqueline pappas, executive director of the as bury park chamber of commerce is on the phone with us right now. jacqueline, congratulations. i know there are lots of bear hugs going around. what are you most proud of that's back up and running there? >> i would say that the determination of our business community and our residents and the fans of asbury park and the entire jersey shore has been overwhelming from the moment the storm began and all the way

through in our rebuilding process. >> how did it happen? how is it everyone was able to get together, get their resources together in order to make this kind of transformation? >> it takes a lot of partners. we're a very strong community, asbury park over the years has been through quite a lot of evolution, change, challenge and we certainly proved in this point that we are stronger than the storm but our community really pulled together. from a municipal level with a lot of leadership and guidance from all of our emergency management team, to our business community and their partnerships and at the end of the day, as soon as it was safe to do so, everyone was just ready, willing an able to get back to business and that's how it started. >> so we're looking at some of the still pictures. you see there were some balloons along the railing near the boardwalk, looked like some of the retail space got a real

facelift. we are seeing this restaurant. when do you expect word to get out that these stores and restaurants are open again for business and that you will see the kind of flood of people that you typically would during the summer months? >> i think that's already begun. work began very immediately after the storm to take inventory of how much damage we had and have the repair and restoration begin. i can tell you that we were a town that was eagerly anticipating every week some other business coming back online. our downtown really kept asbury park thriving immediately following the storm. it was literally two weeks that we were able to get most of our business community in the downtown up and running, and then slowly but surely throughout the rest of the winter months and moving into the holiday season our boardwalk started to come back alive. we started with the music venues and continued from there. >> so the boardwalk here at

asbury park and this kind of recovery an rebuilding, is it at all symbolic of the same rate of rebuilding and recovery of the residences, a lot of the houses in the area that are just a stone's throw away? >> i think so. the pace is a little bit different and the damage is a little bit different. we were very spared in our residential community. mostly restorable damage. fortunately for us, not for fort nat f fortunate for some of our residential towns, our residential community was less touched than the water front community. but our residential community is really supporting the business community on the water front that really took a little bit of a beating. there was damage -- >> well, congratulations, jacqueline pappas, executive director of the asbury park chamber of commerce. and congrats to the team work that it took to get you all to

this place of recovery. thanks so much, all the best. >> thank you. their prom was canceled the first time around. that was 1963. and the place, birmingham, alabama. well, after 50 years and sweeping civil rights changes, these seniors finally get the prom they missed out on. welcome to the new buffalo... where new york state is investing one billion dollars to attract and grow business. where companies like geico are investing in technology & finance. welcome to the state where cutting taxes for business... is our business. welcome to the new buffalo. welcome to the new buffalo. welcome to the new buffalo. new york state is throwing out the old rule book to give your business a new edge, the edge you can only get in new york state. to grow our start your business, visit thenewny.com given way to sleeping. tossing and turning have where sleepless nights yield to restful sleep, and lunesta eszopiclone can help you get there,

like it has for so many people before. do not take lunesta if you are allergic to anything in it. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving or engaging in other activities while asleep without remembering it the next day have been reported. lunesta should not be taken together with alcohol. abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations or confusion. in depressed patients, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide, may occur. alcohol may increase these risks. allergic reactions such as tongue or throat swelling occur rarely and may be fatal. side effects may include unpleasant taste, headache, dizziness and morning drowsiness. ask your doctor if lunesta is right for you. then find out how to get lunesta for as low as $15 at lunesta.com there's a land of restful sleep, we can help you go there, on the wings of lunesta. are you still sleeping? just wanted to check and make sure that we were on schedule.

the first technology of its kind... mom and dad, i have great news. is now providing answers families need. siemens. answers. there was this and this. she got a parking ticket... ♪ and she forgot to pay her credit card bill on time. good thing she's got the citi simplicity card. it doesn't charge late fees or a penalty rate. ever. as in never ever. now about that parking ticket. [ grunting ] [ male announcer ] the citi simplicity card is the only card that never has late fees, a penalty rate, or an annual fee, ever. go to citi.com/simplicity to apply.

right now we are hearing reports of another tornado, this is near clear water. it is roughly moving 35 miles per hour. here are two areas for signatures that we're hearing reports of. this is not far away from wichita. of course the wichita office issued this tornado warning. the newest one goes until 4:15 central standard time. this is a confirmed tornado. we are hearing reports of at least two, the last one was near viola. if you're in this region, you want to make sure you're getting into the inteen yore part of your home. of course make sure you are being cautious out there in listening to warnings but try to get to the basement. if you don't have a basement, go into a closet, something where it is sturdy and provides that type of shelter. again we are following this storm. we'll continue to follow these. we are expecting more to pop up as we go through the next couple

of hours. of course we have tornado watches in place for good parts of the plains as well as the midwest through 11:00 this evening. it is going to continue until tomorrow. we have a busy night ahead. >> people need to keep it right here for the latest information. other story we're following -- in long island, new york, a funeral is being planned for a hofstra university student shot and killed by a police officer. police say an intruder broke into angela's home, terrorized her and her roommates. when police arrived at the house they found the intruder holding the victim at gunpoint. an officer shot the suspect multiple times but one of his bullets also hit her in the head. on to connecticut. railroad authorities are removing the broken rail cars from the site of this terrible crash. a commuter train derailed, then struck another train in bridgeport on friday during rush hour. nine people injuredhospitalized one in critical condition.

someone is a mum tlti-millionai. there was one winning ticket sold at a publix supermarket in florida. saturday's jackpot was worth an estimated $600 million. president obama earned an honorary agree today after delivering the commencement address at morehouse college in atlanta. he urged the class of 2013 to remember to help the less fortunate. and a new study says transportation workers have a 36% obesity rate. that's the highest rate among 14 occupation groups. the study says part of the problem is not exercising enough and not eating healthy. it took 50 years to happen but the class of 1963 at five alabama high schools finally had prom night. promise at all birmingham city

schools were canceled in 1963 because the students participated in civil rights marches. this weekend those students came back and they final i had had a chance to reunite all dressed up and dread toy go and hitting the dance floor for the prom that they missed years ago. >> the senior prom was everything that i had to look forward to. it was like a rite of passage, if you will. so being denied the prom in '63 was devastating to pea. >> it is more than just a prom, too, you know. it's healing wounds and the accomplishments that we've made in the 50 years. >> well, tickets for the prom -- guess? $19.63. proceeds will go towards scholarships for birmingham city high school seniors. congrats to them. the freedom project is being launched by our sister network cnn international to shine a light on the who are roars of modern day slavery. actress mira sorvino is using

her role as a special u.n. ambassador to wage a campaign to end human trafficking. she's our spotlight today for "impact your world." >> a lot of what i've learned about human trafficking has been through direct conversations with victims. i've interviewed many, many victims in several different countries in different situations and different age ranges. almost all the victims i've spoken to have been women and most of them have been in sexual exploitation. some of it is so shocking that it almost like ruins you for a few weeks. like you can't actually escape the horrendousness of what people are telling you and the pain that they have lived through. i met a little girl at a sherlt and she was showing me her homework. it was her addition and subtraction. she was very proud. then they took me aside and they said, her father murdered her mother in front of her, and then he dropped her off with some relatives in cancun and they sold her to a brothel at age 4. 4 to 7 she was working at a brothel doing things that she did not even know how to

describe except she knew they were incorrect, wrong. and then somehow she was liberated and ended up in this shelter. to think that there is a sex tourism demand for children of the age of 4, it's one of the most stomach turning things i could possibly imagine as a mother. this is going to change because it is morally intolerable. thieves may be targeting your phone bill. our favorite money expert clark howard will show us the red flags to look out for.

so...how'd it go? well, dad, i spent my childhood living with monks learning the art of dealmaking. you've mastered monkey-style kung fu? no. priceline is different now. you don't even have to bid. master hahn taught you all that? oh, and he says to say (translated from cantonese) "you still owe him five bucks." your accent needs a little work. the wright brothers became the first in flight. [ goodall ] i think the most amazing thing is how like us these chimpanzees are.

[ laughing ] [ woman ] can you hear me? and you hear your voice? oh, it's exciting! [ man ] touchdown confirmed. we're safe on mars. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ hi. [ baby fussing ] ♪

[ baby fussing ] for a store near you go to benjaminmoore.com/bayarea.

if you get a phone bill you could be a victim of cramming when vcriminals set up a third party marketing company to put charges on your bill. clark howard tells us how to spot these phony charges. >> fredricka, i got to tell you, the thing going on with cramming on a cell phone bill drives me crazy! we went through this with traditional land lines. years ago so many people don't have land lines anymore, the cell phone is the real target now. this is how this plays. people put phony charges on through your cell phone company that takes an undisclosed commission for doing so and they bill you usually for something that has an innocuous description on your cell phone bill. could be calling services, operator services, voicemail, something like that. and they're charging usually

like $9.99 a study by the attorney general of the state of vermont found that 60% of people surveyed when at the looked at their cell phone bill found phony charges but here's the even more shocking thing. 55% of people had never looked and didn't know they were getting rip off. so, when you get your cell phone bill each and every month, you got to go through it line by line to make sure the stuff on it is legit. something else going on that's big, big, big. the theft of cell phones. particularly in walking cities like new york, cell phones are being swiped every day. you should add one of the apps to your phone, you have an iphone, for an android, a number of apps like look out where can you wipe your phone clean if it's been stolen and maybe even find out where it is at that moment. fredricka? >> all right, all great advice. that's why we love clark howard.

you can watch clark howard on hln's "evening express" monday through friday, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. eastern time. actor rain wilson's face is a big reason he's confronting the government of iran. find out what he wants from that country's leaders. plus, who's afraid of bears? not this guy who got some pretty incredible video that we'll show you. that video right there, inside the mouth of a grizzly! i'm talking to him. not the bear but the guy coming up. ♪ ♪ [ female announcer ] nothing gets you going quite like the power of quaker oats. today is going to be epic. quaker up.

as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios ♪ the one and only, cheerios

we've been bringing people fotogether.5 years today we'd like people to come together on something that concerns all of us...obesity. and as the nations leading beverage company we can play an important role. that includes continually providing more options. giving people easy ways to help make informed choices. and offering portion controlled versions of our most popular drinks. it also means working with our industry to voluntarily change whats offered in schools. but beating obesity will take continued action by all of us. based on one simple common sense fact, all calories count. and if you eat and drink more calories then you burn off you'll gain weight. that goes for coca cola and everything else with calories. finding a solution will take all of us. but at coca cola we know when people come together good things happen to learn more visit coke.com/comingtogether

after nine seasons, one of nbc's tomorrow comedies is bye-bye. off the air. gone. "the office" put scranton, pennsylvania on the map. the show followed the lives of odd ball group of employees at a make-believe company called gunder miff lib. it went the way of nbc's "30 rock" another popular comedy, poof, into thin air. actor rainn wilson is making the transition to life after spending time at the office. he's leading a campaign for the release of seven volunteers being held in iran. jake tapper shows us the strong role faith plays in wilson's life. >> reporter: it's a show that brought the mockumentary to the

mainstream. with a single camera set one no laugh track, reshaped the landscape of network comedies. rainn wilson is one of the break-away stars of the show playing bed and breakfast pro pie tore and beet farmer dwight chute. >> it is probable that this was the high point of my career around the most awesome thing i'll ever be involved in. >> and there's no crime or shame in it. >> yeah. i feel none. feel just tremendous greatitude. >> reporter: the show's been on one level an unlikely success. it faced skeptics who thought it could never improve on the british original starring ricky gervais. then came questions whether the show could survive the loss of star steve carell. but it has thrived. is it tough to call it quits on a show? >> "the office" ending really came from us going to the producers and saying, you know what? it's time to end this thing. let's do one final season, let's

make it great, let's have a big finale and let's do it right. i love the people there so much. it is such a great family. and at the same time, it was time for it to go away. recently the cast and crew threw a giant rap party and soaked up a victory lap in the pennsylvania town the paper company called home. thousands came to bid them farewell. >> yeah! i feel like the beatles! >> reporter: but wilson is now using his office fame to support fellow members of his faith, ones who are being persecuted. >> they believe that there is only one god and that all religions are in harmony. it is a beautiful faith. i grew up in it. >> reporter: he came to washington to raise awareness about seven volunteer leaders who have been imprisoned in iran for five years. >> the charges against them are just preposterous. it is like spying for israel and

corruption. corruption on earth. so this campaign of five years too many is really to let people know, hey, there are people rotting in jail on a 20-year sentence on completely trurmd up charges simply because they have a certain set of faith beliefs that run against the theocracy in iran. >> that nobody looks a scans at you because you are -- >> probably ricky gervais does. yeah. he's one of those like -- >> he's a doubter. >> well, he's an active proselytizing atheist. >> he's aggressively atheist. >> that's okay. i respect his beliefs. >> he doesn't respect yours though. >> he probably doesn't but that's okay. i thank him for creating "the office." because i wouldn't have a job without that. >> you sound really at peace and centered and not very much like a lot of actors you've met. is this because -- >> you know, my faith grounds me and centers me and gives me focus and purpose and i'm very

grateful for that. maybe i'll just always be known as dwight and that's great. i'm totally fine with that. i'm a good actor. i know that there is a lot of other work out there for me and a lot of fulfilling other stuff. this is just how i'm feeling right now. talk to me tomorrow and i could be pulling my hair out and be like, damn carell! >> if you have a hunger for more of dwight, sorry. nbc reportedly passed on a spinoff but if you have a hunger for more rainn wilson or want to know more about those imprisoned in iran, check out his website soulpancake.com. jake tapper, cnn, washington. you could also check out the cnn.com/belief location as well if you want to learn more about rainn wilson and what he is doing as it pertains to the seven in iran. we've been mentioning to you some severe weather in the midsection of the country.

now we are talking about wichita, kansas. you know it is bad when even some of the weather forecasters are taking cover. let's go to jennifer delgado now for more. >> you're right, things are getting extremely dangerous across parts of central kansas. what we're learning now is basically the employees of the wichita office we're talking the national weather service, they're basically taking cover now because they have a large dangerous tornado that's been spotted on the ground and it is moving in their direction. here is where the office is located. right where the cone is. the reason why they're actually taking cover is because if you look right here, this hook, this inflow, this is the area that we're watching for the potential for that storm to produce and drop down another tornado. we are hearing of course that there is a tornado on the ground. it is moving to the northeast roughly at a direction of about 30 miles per hour in that nearly direction. now they turned over basically a coverage to the topeka office because these folks need to get safe in this wichita office. right now again we are talking

this tornado warning in effect until 4:15 central time and the employees of the wichita office are turning over coverage to tee polka because they have this large and dangerous tornado heading in their direction. again there is at the mid continent airport and that is in wichita. >> okay, thanks so much, jennifer. keep us posted on that. pretty frightening stuff there on the weather front. you're about to see some pretty frightening images of something else. a grizzly taking a bite out of this shot. we'll talk to the photographer -- yeah -- who's responsible for this image of inside a grizzly bear's mouth. all that straight ahead. there's a reason no one says "easy like monday morning." sundays are the warrior's day to unplug and recharge. what if this feeling could last all week? with centurylink as your trusted partner, it can. our visionary cloud infrastructure

and global broadband network free you to focus on what matters. with custom communications solutions and dedicated support, your business can shine all week long. welwhere new york state is... investing one billion dollars to attract and grow business. where companies like geico are investing in technology & finance. welcome to the state where cutting taxes for business... is our business. welcome to the new buffalo. welcome to the new buffalo. welcome to the new buffalo. new york state is throwing out the old rule book to give your business a new edge, the edge you can only get in new york state. to grow our start your business, visit thenewny.com

...and we inspected his brakes for free. -free is good. -free is very good. [ male announcer ] now get 50% off brake pads and shoes at meineke.

in wichita, kansas, that tornado threat is now getting an

upgrade. very serious. jennifer delgado in the severe weather center. what's happening? >> hi, fredricka. we do now know this is actually a tornado emergency. we're at basically the very highest level here. went from the tornado warning that we still have in place but what they're saying is that they have a very large and danger are you tornado on the ground. this is extremely dangerous tornado so basically what they're saying is if you are not underground, you could be killed or if you're not in a tornado shelter. do not delay. make sure you are taking cover right now. area we're talking about is in sedgwick county. here's another area we are looking at for possible rotation. we've had numerous popping up for areas including viola, as well as into areas -- sorry, forgive me. i'm looking at some different e-mails right here. for wichita. it is the area basically to the southwest. you're seeing seeing basically inflow. what we're see something rotation across this region. what we're going to continue to deal with is more tornado

warnings as we go throughout the evening. i think we'll try to track this for you. play with the weather graphics a little bit more you. this is the area we are talking about. this is wichita and this gives you an idea of viola, we saw that earlier today. a tornado emergency in place for wichita and the weather service workers in wichita have actually taken cover, turned over service to topeka because it is so dangerous. we want to make sure they're making sure that we're safe but we also want to make sure they're safe as well. this is at the mid continent airport in wichita, kansas. >> very alarming here, too, because we are talking about a fairly populated area. >> absolutely. we'll see more of these popping up across kansas and oklahoma as we go throughout night. here is a question for you. so what happens when a nature expert sets up a camera in the alaskan wilderness hoping to get a close and personal video of a grizzly bear. well amazingly, it works.

the grizzly just might try to eat the camera, however, but in the end some incredible images. this is the grizzly encountering that camera, pawing it at first, and then trying to take a bite out of it. we get to see everything, tonsils, tongue, serious teeth. all of it all captured by the brain child of all of this, brad joseph, who studies wildlife around the world. he's actually joining us now live. from alaska. there in the wilderness sort of behind you there. so brad, where did you get this crazy idea which turned out to be a brilliant idea? >> i was working -- actually i was guiding a group of photographers in a very remote area on the alaskan peninsula and one of the things i was doing last summer was trying to get really kind of up-close footage of a bear that hasn't been gotten before and we used

this go-procameras now and just got really, really lucky. this was hours and hours and hours and didn't get anything. but i'm very lucky. >> incredibly lucky. we are learning so much about the grizzly. we think about the images we see in the movies and how ferocious and terrible. yes, he's got the teeth to live up to that. but you also have beautiful images, beautiful images of these grizzlies and this one in particular we're seeing kind of stalking right there in the water, up on its behind legs. your objective here is to get people to appreciate as opposed to fear these amazing animals. >> yeah, that's right. it wasn't really my intention to get a video to scare people of bears even more. i really think bears have a really bad reputation and they have a hard time getting along with people a lot. so mostly my mission in life i think is to make people appreciate bears and conserve them an conserve their habitat

an conserve the resources like salmon and things that they rely on. so i'm not trying to scare people even more, but -- i guess it is an entertaining video. >> we can better appreciate the majesty of these grizzlies. thank you so much, brad josephs. i wish we could talk some more, but we've got some tornadic activity going on but that's really worth taking a stop, taking a moment to really just enjoy the alaskan wilderness. thanks so much. all the best to you. thanks for sharing. we'll have much more on that tornado emergency being declared in wichita, kansas right after this. [ male announcer ] erica had a rough day.

there was this and this. she got a parking ticket... ♪ and she forgot to pay her credit card bill on time. good thing she's got the citi simplicity card. it doesn't charge late fees or a penalty rate. ever. as in never ever. now about that parking ticket. [ grunting ] [ male announcer ] the citi simplicity card is the only card that never has late fees, a penalty rate, or an annual fee, ever. go to citi.com/simplicity to apply. we're not in london, are we? no. why? apparently my debit card is. what? i know. don't worry, we have cancelled your old card. great. thank you. in addition to us monitoring your accounts for unusual activity, you could also set up free account alerts. okay. [ female announcer ] at wells fargo we're working around the clock to help protect your money and financial information. here's your temporary card.